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First contact
This is an article about '''first contact' situations and procedures. If you are looking for information about the episode, visit First Contact (episode). If you are looking for information about the movie, visit Star Trek: First Contact.'' ---- The term first contact describes the first official encounter between representatives of two races or governments. Occasionally, the official first contact takes place years or even decades after members of the species involved have first met. Typically, first contact is only initiated by the Federation if a civilization is sufficiently advanced and has developed interstellar travel (via warp drive, for example). Contact with more primitive civilizations is prohibited by the Prime Directive. It has been stated that approaching scientists and intellectual leaders first, in private, is a preferred method of first contact, on the assumption that they would have minds open enough to easily grasp the concept of alien life (TNG: "First Contact"). [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|Starship Enterprise-D]]'s captain Jean-Luc Picard made 27 official first contacts prior to 2379 (Star Trek: Nemesis). Human-Vulcan first contact The term First Contact is also used to specifically refer to the first official contact between Humans and extraterrestrials. First Contact took place on the evening of April 5, 2063, when a Vulcan survey ship, the ''T'Plana-Hath'', having detected the warp signature of the Phoenix, touched down in Bozeman, central Montana. This event is generally referred to as the defining moment in human history, eventually paving the way for a unified world government and, later, the United Federation of Planets. Well documented at the Vulcan Science Directorate and Space Council but against common human knowledge, a small Vulcan survey craft crash landed in Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania, a mining town, in 1957 prior to official First Contact. Sent to investigate the launch of Earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik, the vessel's impulse manifold began to malfunction during the third week of intelligence gathering, forcing the crew to attempt an emergency landing. The commander of the vessel perished in the crash, leaving command to T'Mir, T'Pol's second foremother. Unable to confirm the transmission of their distress call, having exhausted their emergency rations within one week, and unwilling to resort to "savagery," the remainder of the Vulcan crew was ultimately compelled to enter Carbon Creek in disguise. Without currency, T'Mir and Mestral were able to obtain sustenance in the form of pretzels and water at the local bar. Mestral, however, confident in his knowledge of simple geometry, was able to obtain currency, and, consequently, "cryogenic" (i.e. frozen) food, through a game of pool. As the weeks wore on, the crew took up various employments and increased their interactions with the humans. T'Mir, Mestral, and Stron, nevertheless, managed to keep their existence as aliens a secret. (ENT: "Carbon Creek") Other notable first contacts Human-Klingon first contact Earth's first contact with the Klingons was in 2151, after the Klingon courier Klaang crashed in Broken Bow, Oklahoma (ENT:"Broken Bow"). This disastrous first contact led to decades of war. (TNG: "First Contact") Human-Andorian first contact TODO: Info from (ENT:"The Andorian Incident) Human-Akaali first contact First contact with the Akaali was made by the ''Enterprise'' (NX-01) in 2151. It was significant in that it was the first human-initiated first contact. Despite the Vulcan advice not to contact the primitive Akaali homeworld, Captain Jonathan Archer took a landing party to the surface. In doing so, the Enterprise crew uncovered a covert mining operation by the Malurians (ENT:"Civilization"). Federation-Ferengi first contact TODO Federation-Dominion first contact Appendices Related topics *Malcorians *Mirasta Yale